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"SWAFFHAM PRIOR (or Great Swaffham) is a village and parish, with a station on the Cambridge and Mildenhall branch of the London and North Eastern railway, half a mile west of the churches, 6 miles west from Newmarket, in the hundred of Staine, Bottisham petty sessional division, Newmarket union and county court district, rural deanery of Fordham and archdeaconry and diocese of Ely: it is remarkable for its two churches, both standing in one churchyard."
"The soil is loamy; subsoil, chalk. The chief crops are wheat, barley, turnips and mustard seed. The area is 5,587 acres of land and water; the population in 1921 was 592, including part of the ancient British hamlet of Reach, which is about 2 miles north at the western end of the Devil's Dyke or ditch, and partly in this parish and partly in that of Burwell. "
[Kellys Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
The Census Records from 1841-1891 can be found in the Cambridge Record Office. In addition the 1851 Census for Swaffham Prior is available in full transcript form, on microfiche, from the Cambridgeshire Family History Society Bookstall.
"The Baptist chapel was built in 1862. The churchyard, with a few reservations, was closed by Order in Council on May 19, 1899; a new burial ground adjoining the east side of the churchyard having been opened for use on Nov. 15, 1898; it is under the control of the Parish Council."
[Kellys Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
Primitive Methodist Church: Records exist for the Cambridge Primitive Circuit of which Swaffham Prior is part.
Wesleyan Methodist Church: Records exist for the Cambridge Wesleyan Circuit and the Cottenham Wesleyan Circuit of which Swaffham Prior is part.
"The living consists of the consolidated vicarages of St. Mary and SS, Cyrise and Julitta, net yearly value £418, including 5 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop and the Dean and Chapter of Ely alternately, and held since 1897 by the Rev. Lawrence Fisher M.A. of St. John's College, Cambridge, who is also rural dean of Fordham. The famous Puritan, Dr. Edward Calamy the elder, held the living from 1625 to 1631; Dr. George Davys, Bishop of Peterborough (1839-64), and Dr. Henry Pepys, Bishop of Worcester (1841-61), were curates here. The Most Rev. H. W. Jermyn D.D. sometime Primus of the Episcopal Church in Scotland, was born here. The Baptist chapel was built in 1862. The churchyard, with a few reservations, was closed by Order in Council on May 19, 1899; a new burial ground adjoining the east side of the churchyard having been opened for use on Nov. 15, 1898; it is under the control of the Parish Council."
"Swaffham Prior House, built on the site of an old Elizabethan mansion, a portion of which it incorporates, is the property of Charles Israel Loraine Allix esq. D.L., J.P. and the residence of Alexander Gemmell esq."
[Kellys Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
The "1839 Pigot's Directory of Cambridgeshire" for Swaffham Prior index of Inns & Hotels, Taverns and Public Houses, Brewers & Maltsters + Wine & Spirit Merchants.
"There are several manors in the parish, the chief of which are Swaffham Prior, belonging to the Dean and Chapter of Ely; Shadforth the property of Queens' College, Cambridge, and Knights and Baldwins, belonging to Charles Israel Lolaine Allix esq. D.L., J.P. who, with Mr. C. C Ambrose, the Cambridge County Council and the Jockey Club are the principal landowners."
[Kellys Directory - Cambridgeshire - 1929]
Land Tax: records were compiled afresh each year and contain the names of owners and occupiers in each parish, but usually there is no address or place name. These records reside in the Cambridge Record Office for the years 1757-63, 1789-1837, 1880-89, 1911-48.
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[Last updated 20 March 2003 Martin Edwards]